The Australian skipper has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the last four of the World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket victory over their opponents.
Healy remained unbeaten on 113, arriving just four days after her equally impressive 142 that defeated the Indian team at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she shared an undefeated 200-run opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to chase to their target of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a not at my best behind the stumps, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll accept the win and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the pair put on 202 came after perhaps the team's poorest display in the fielding department under the captain's leadership, with the skipper criticizing herself in especial for dropping two of the half-dozen catches that were missed.
“I was a little bit disappointed with my wicketkeeping, and I had a little bit to make up for with the bat, and fortunately delivered,” Healy continued.
From the time statistics was initially taken on fielding performance statistics in the year 2013, the six dropped opportunities marked the team's poorest fielding display at a World Cup tournament.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the competition – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll reflect on,” the captain said.
It helped Bangladesh to manage 198 for 9 after they had chosen to bat, their best-ever total in an ODI against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the first fifty ever for the Bangladeshi team against the world champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken ten-over bowling performance, in which she took two wickets for 18 runs with four maidens, was vital to making sure the team's target wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Win that Seals Semi-Final Place
The Australian skipper was thrilled to discover that the victory, which puts her unbeaten side top of the group table on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a berth in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old skipper raced to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 balls she confronted as she accelerated from Litchfield in the latter stages in the knock after they had gone practically shot for shot towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Half-Century
The young batter Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, getting to her first World Cup half-century off 46 deliveries shortly after her partner got there off 43. They went on to record the third-highest partnership by any Australian duo at a Women’s World Cup.
Earlier, during the subpar fielding display, the captain spilled the simplest of edges off Darcie Brown and also was unable to hold on to a difficult skied one off Annabel Sutherland. Annoyingly, she also take a clear chance off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the umpire rejected their appeal.
The reinstated Darcie Brown sent down the fastest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
In contrast, the slow bowlers thrived, led by Alana King, whose performance could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Fellow spinners Georgia Wareham (2-22 off seven overs) and Ash Gardner (two for 48 off nine overs) both contributed, while Sutherland strengthened her standing as the competition's leading wicket-taker with her two for 41, bringing her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 off 80 deliveries took Bangladesh to their record total against the Aussies, but the target was made to look straightforward by a side who had chased down 330 runs against the Indian side four days before.
“It’s always nice when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match Alana King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate returning to Indore to take on England and South Africa.”
